Like many other SLF, I have downloaded and occasionally use the smartphone apps made by various airlines. They vary widely in quality and usability, but can be handy.
Last night I was travelling back to Geneva from Stockholm, on Swiss via Zurich. Scheduled departure time from Stockholm was 19:35 - and I was hoping for an on-time departure as I had only 35 mins for the connection in ZRH to the last flight to GVA. I had some time to kill at the airport, so had dinner and looked around the shops - keeping an eye on the flight status on the Swiss app on my phone. This consistently said the estimated time of departure was 19:35. All good. At around 19:00 I went to gate lounge. The app (and airport monitors) at this point said "go to gate", and still gave ETD as 19:35. But there was clearly no aircraft at the gate. At 19:15, with the jet bridge still forlornly hanging empty over the ramp, the app said "boarding", with ETD still 19:35.
This was obviously total fantasy. What kind of data is driving this thing? Is it pre-programmed or just made up on the spot? It must have been known long before that a 19:35 departure would not be possible. It must also be known - even to the deluded fantasists who run ops at Swiss - that you cannot board an aircraft that has not yet arrived. What can possibly be the point of providing such "information" to passengers, except to irritate them and diminish their confidence in your company?
The plane did arrive shortly afterwards, and eventually left. With some sprinting, I made the connection in Zurich, and we landed in Geneva around 23:30. After arriving home, my phone beeped: an alert from the Swiss app! "Your flight to Geneva: gate change to B43". Yes, an hour
after landing (two hours after departure) the app helpfully tells you the departure gate has changed.
Why so hopeless? I know it's trivial in the scheme of things, but if you're going to have an app, is it really so hard to make it work properly?